Amona 'Head-Butt Cop' to Pay Victim

Policeman David Atia will pay almost NIS 60,000 to David Ladvin, whom he assaulted at Amona

By Gil Ronen

First Publish: 11/17/2009, 6:05 PM / Last Update: 11/17/2009, 6:19 PM

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Policeman David Atia will pay almost NIS 60,000 to David Ladvin, whom he assaulted at the protest against demolitions at Amona in 2005. Atias was filmed head-butting Ladvin with his helmet.

Four years after the event, and three years after Atia was found guilty of assaulting Ladvin, Judge Karmi Mosek of the the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court ruled that Atia must pay Ladvin the compensation from his own money.

Ladvin was represented by Attorney Chaim Cohen, on behalf of the Organization for Civil Rights in Yesha. Atia did not respond to the lawsuit after it was handed to him in June 2009, and no defense rebuttal was ever handed in to the court.

The Organization for Human Rights in Yesha noted that David Atia, who was the first policeman to be convicted of criminal offenses following the Amona events, enjoyed a lenient verdict in the criminal case. The judge determined that Atia “attacked the plaintiff when he was in no danger, while the plaintiff was walking away from him. We emphasize that the accused is the one who followed the plaintiff and then head-butted his face.” And yet, he decided to nullify the criminal conviction, in order to prevent Atia's dismissal from the police.